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 We had always wanted to take a land/cruise trip to Alaska, so our 30th anniversary seemed to be a good excuse to go. We discussed 3 different options with Haleh and decided to go with CruiseWest. It was a smaller ship (84 passengers), more personal and focused on nature. We looked forward to a more intimate experience offered on this type of cruise. That’s exactly what we got! Our trip started in Fairbanks and included a tour of the city, the Alaskan Pipeline and a paddlewheel ride down the river. We stayed two nights before taking a train to Denali National Park. We chose the option of staying at a lodge at the end of the park road which was a great way to unwind and enjoy the beauty of this wonderful area. Spotting all the different wildlife on the way in was amazing – Grizzly bears, moose, caribou, eagles, dahl sheep, ptarmagan and more. Mt. McKinley was in full view both days we were there. Then onto Anchorage and Juneau where we boarded our small ship. Our first evening on the ship provided us with a wonderful display by the humpback whales. The boat stopped so we could watch fluking, dorsal fin slapping, breaching, and bubble net feeding. Truly something to see and so close to the boat! Onto Glacier Bay where we were able to cruise into the narrow inlets to view the calving glaciers. The sounds and sights were spectacular! The onboard naturalists, Game & Fish, and native experts enhanced this up close experience even more. The seals, mountain goats, sea otters, sea lions and puffins were so fun to see. We rode the Narrow Gauge Railroad in Skagway and took a rafting trip through an Eagle Preserve in Haines. The numerous friendships we made will be for a lifetime. Thanks Haleh for showing us this option! It cost more than a big ship cruise, but it was much more than we imagined.
Nancy and Earl Emerick
Our Africa Trip was amazing. Steve and I had a wonderful experience on our recent trip to Amsterdam and Tanzania. The flights were as planned, the hotels were amazing and the experiences beyond our expectations. Abercrombie and Kent is a first class travel company. We would recommend it to anyone. Thank you for arranging it from this end. I am sending just a few of our hundreds of pictures.
Elizabeth Karsell
Alaskan Cruise and Adventure
The summer of 2006 we booked an Alaskan cruise and land tour through Horizon Travel. This trip was in celebration of my retirement as my wife and I had always wanted to see Alaska and we also had never been on a cruise.
We traveled with two other couples that were long time friends from work, as well as relatives from Norway, a man and wife and their 18 year old son from Norway.
We booked on Celebrity Cruises on advice of Haleh and when we arrived at the port in Vancouver, the sight of the ship took my breath away.
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This picture of the Celebrity ship “Summit” was taken from the tender on our way back to the ship from Sitka.
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This was also taken in Sitka. I got a little carried away and took over 200 eagle pictures. |
The accommodations, the service, the food, the weather, and the landscape were all superlative. We were seven nights on the ship and each port brought a new vista and new adventure. Haleh booked a whale watching excursion out of Juneau with “Captain Jack” that was simply outstanding. The excursion was supposed to last a couple of hours, but due to the large number of whale sightings we were out twice that long.
We left the ship at Seward and began a six night tour on land. We traveled via bus and the Alaskan Railroad. Our tour guides were delightful, the accommodations were simply the best and although we only got fleeting glimpses of Denali (Mt. McKinley) through the cloud cover, Alaska revealed breathtaking vista after breathtaking vista. A grizzly and her two cubs taken in Denali Park (The bear and the cubs are not visible (^_^))
This one was a little closer!!!!! (It was taken out the window and in the safety of the park tour bus).
These few words and pictures just barely touch on the excellent experiences we had each day and every day of our cruise and tour. Although a year has past, the memories of our wonderful Alaskan experiences are still vivid.
In closing let me add that this was our first experience of arranging a vacation with a travel agent. The people from Norway flew directly in to Vancouver (our departure port) a few days early to explore the city. Haleh’s coordination of the flights and booking the cruise for nine people was no small feat. Suffice to say, all we had to do was show up at the airport.
Stan Jacobson
What could be better than traveling to a place in the world that you never thought you'd visit ... in total luxury? That was our experience traveling through the Baltics aboard the Regent Seven Seas Voyager cruise ship in June of this year.
First, a bit about the ship: The Voyager is in the class of ships called "ultra-luxury" ships and we certainly found that to be true. What differentiates this boat is two major items. First, the space to passenger ratio is significantly higher than most ships resulting in uncrowded common areas and a feeling of spaciousness. The 49,000 ton ship only carries 700 passengers. The entire ship has first class balcony suites which are outstanding in terms of the room and space available (our cabin/balcony had 386 sq ft). We had a large bathroom with full shower and bathtub, plenty of counter space and storage, a large walk-in closet with built in safe, bedroom area, sitting room and balcony. The second differentiating factor is that although the up-front cost may appear quite a bit higher than other cruises, just about everything is included meaning all beverages, cocktails, cappuccinos, food (including that served at the two specialty restaurants on board and room service), self-service laundry and gratuities. All of that gives one the feeling of an undisturbed onboard experience. The only "extra" cost items on board would be for the casino, photos, shopping, and the spa. We encountered outstanding and truly friendly service across the entire ship. There were many day and evening activities available with some "specials" such as on board bridge lessons, a cooking class taught by the Le Cordon Bleu (who staff the Signatures restaurant), and outstanding history lectures of the Baltic area and ports of call. In addition to expected nightclubs, dancing, casino, on-board shopping, spa and health club, the formal entertainment on our cruise included special performances on this particular cruise by "Theatre at Sea" which is a group of performers including Ed Asner, Patricia Neal, Susanna York, Cliff Robertson and others. Finally, the catchword on the food would clearly be quality over quantity. We found the selection and creativity of excellent quality while never feeling overwhelmed by quantity as on some other cruise ships.
Now for the ports of call: Our itinerary included eight formal ports of call starting from Dover, England then throughout the Baltic area ending at Copenhagen. Throughout the entire area we found the history and environment full of challenges and the people anxious to share their stories and lives with us. We also visited in June during which time the sun hardly ever sets and many celebrations are held. Some of the highlights started with our tour through Berlin. It made us very thoughtful about our own history with Germany, both the good and bad. We spent some time at Checkpoint Charlie and then the Allied Museum where we learned a lot about the allied air lift flights into Berlin to stop the spread of communism in Europe. Today Berlin is a very different place with intense building and modernization having had a big impact on the city and its people. We definitely want to spend more time there. While in Tallinn, Estonia we got an up close picture of what it would be like to be in a very small country where differing countries are continually “in possession" of you. You end up with a mixture of peoples, in this case Estonian's, Germans, Russians and more. The true Estonia's are now so proud of their independence and are working hard to establish and differentiate themselves which is visible in their politics and even in their currency which is still Estonian vs. the Euro. Old town Tallinn is a quaint and charming place, full of history and an easy walk from the cruise ship dock. St. Petersburg was a two day experience and one that could have easily been a month with all the treasures to see from the period when the Tsar's were in power. Our pre-cruise research was very worthwhile to put what we saw into context. Peter the Great built what was to be the capital of Russia on a swamp which today is connected by a series of bridges. We saw the world’s finest art collection which is housed in the famous Hermitage Museum; In addition, Peter's home on the Baltic Sea - Peterhof - was magnificent in that the waters of the Baltic literally come through the gardens up to the palace. We would recommend investing to purchase a Russian visa before your trip so that you can explore the city independently as we did. We were able to visit more historical sites as well as do some independent shopping, eat in a Russian restaurant and taste Russian vodka! We certainly got a good flavor of what communism can do to a society as well as the magnitude of the changes required moving forward out of communism. Our last stops in Stockholm and then Copenhagen were wonderful. Both cities would be great to visit for a longer period of time. Stockholm particularly drew our interest. Our favorite cruise views were the four hours prior to docking traveling through the Stockholm archipelago of islands which was absolutely beautiful. Stockholm is an extremely modern, clean and upscale city but retains a lot of history for example in the "old town" area. The other terrific thing for a traveler is that everything here is compact and within walking distance or accessible via a short ferry ride.
Finally,we were able to meet so many wonderful people from so many different places in the world having many different life experiences. We highly recommend this trip and we will go back and visit some of these ports in longer duration. Thanks to Horizon travel for their expertise and handling our logistics.
Elaine Case and Bill Witkor
Alaska Trip, My trip to ALASKA was the best trip I have ever been on. It was really fun and relaxing. There were a lot of fun events on the ship. The food was really good. You could eat at any time of the day. At night you would sit down for a really nice diner with your family and another family. I guarantee you will make a new friend in the seven day cruise. At every port there were a lot of tours. My favorite tour was the White Pass and Yukon Pass Railway in Skagway. In Juneau we took a tour of the town and then we went out to the Mendenhall Glacier it was cool there were ice bergs that had broke off the glacier. In Prince Rupert we took a tour of the town and we saw 18 eagles on our tour. We also went into the Tracy Arm Fiord. There were ice bergs and a glacier it was really cool. At Seattle we took a tour of the city and we got to go up the Space Needle it was a really great view of the city. I would recommend bringing warm clothes on this cruise.
Collin Bennett(11), Preston, MN
My trip to Alaska Trip, I’m glad I got to go along on this trip. The rock wall was one of my favorite activities. It was very hard. The Scrapbooking class was the best. I liked it when my daddy sat in the Viking lounge and my mom went to a ribbon rose class with my sister. And when they did that my brother and I went to play shuffle board then we decided to play ping pong then we played in the game room.
Kenydl Bennett(08), Preston, MN
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